PARENT VIEW

Parent survey 2022 results: your views matter!
Thank you so much to everyone who responded to the parent survey in the summer term.  It was great to have over 150 responses and to hear your views on the school.    Overall, you were very positive about the school:  ·         97% of you said that your child felt happy at school  ·         93% that the school had high expectations for your child  ·         96% agreed their child does well at school  ·         96% thought that there were a good range of subjects available at the school  ·         89% would recommend the school to another parent  ·         91% agreed that the school makes sure that their child is well-behaved  The percentages are all improvements on the survey results in May 2021 and reflects the great progress the school is making.
Here are a few of your comments:    I like how the staff are all so friendly and approachable and that my child is very happy and learning well.    The environment and all the staff are very good.    The teachers are very good and friendly.  My child feels safe there.    Good communication between parents and teachers both in person and online.    Absolutely amazing school.  I moved my children from another  Barking and Dagenham school and it’s the best decision.  The staff are great and attentive to their needs.    The school is making a conscious effort to include parents within daily school life.    The staff are very supportive and listen to the children.  They manage behaviour very well.  My children’s teacher s are very friendly and have high expectations for them.  They are extremely good teachers.    I like that my children feel safe at the school and have good relations with all the teachersd not just the class.    The teachers are friendly and approachable and supportive.  They have high expectations.  The school involves parents and carers very well … The school tries to organise events which are fun for my son.    Child-centred eg playground, trips    I like the mixture of different backgrounds among the pupils and the teachers.    All staff are very supportive and understanding to us and children.  Our daughter settled in very well and both children love going into school.  Also the communication of the school with parents is excellent.    It was really helpful to have your suggestions on how we can improve the school even further.  We have set out some of your main points in the questions and answers below:    What are the plans for clubs next year?  We will continue to run a range of after-school clubs next year and will be writing to you in early September about what clubs will be available.  There will be a small charge for these clubs to be able to cover our costs; however, they will be free if your child is eligible for Pupil Premium (please speak to the office if you think this might apply to you – we would be happy to help).    Can children have more homework?  It is always a difficult balance to set the right amount of homework.  Our policy is to provide sufficient homework to support the child’s essential learning in reading, writing and maths.  We also aim to set homework that it is relatively easy for parents/carers to help with at home – for example reading, spellings and times tables.  It really helps your child if you can support them with their homework and ensure that they always complete it.    We appreciate that some of you who would like us to set more homework.  If this applies to you, then please speak to your class teacher about other activities and websites that you could use to support your child at home.    What are the school’s plans for SEN (special educational needs)?  In September, Ms Thompson (who many of you will know already) will become the school’s full-time SENCo.  This will provide much greater capacity for the school to support children with SEN.  If you have a child with SEN and/or would like to find out more about how the school can help meet your child’s needs, please arrange to speak to Ms Thompson in September.    Can the school gates be opened earlier to avoid overcrowding?  We are aware that the pavement outside the school gates can become very busy in the mornings.  We have considered whether to open the gates five minutes earlier; however, our concern is that this would simply bring forward the time at which the gates became congested.    We would therefore kindly request that, if you arrive before the gates open, that you respect the space of others (for example, you could wait further down the pavement or on the other side of the road until the gates open) and that you leave promptly after dropping off your child.  The gates stay open for ten minutes so, if you have particular concerns about overcrowding, then you can arrive shortly after opening time.  However, please do remember that arriving too late will impact on your child’s learning time.    Some parents are using inappropriate language at the school gate.    At James Cambell, we have high expectations of the behaviour of everyone within the school community – children, staff and parents/carers.  We would strongly encourage everyone to behave respectfully towards each other and avoid using bad language.  As adults, we need to make sure that we are role models for the children.    Inappropriate language and behaviour will not be tolerated.  If the school becomes aware of a parent/carer using bad language or displaying inappropriate behaviour, then we will issue them with a letter setting out our expectations and warning them that they could potentially be barred from entering the school’s premises.    Please feel free to speak to us about any inappropriate behaviour that you witness and we will seek to address it.    Can parents in juniors attend Sports Day?  As many of you will know from our really fun and successful Sports Days, parents from Reception to year 6 are welcome to attend Sports Days.  We want to provide as many opportunities as possible for parents/carers to visit the school – for example, through the year group assemblies that many of you have enjoyed this year.    Some reading books are very old-fashioned.  Will the school be looking to get more books that promote equality and avoid gender/sex/racial stereotypes?  Yes, definitely.  The school is committed to promoting equality and diversity (as well as the love of reading) and we have recently invested in new sets of books for each year group which help achieve this and avoid stereotyping.  We will continue to do this.    How do I find out what the children are learning each term?  You can find out about what your child will be learning on the curriculum pages of the school website.  If you would like more detail or are unable to access the website, please contact your class teacher who would be happy to discuss with you.

For Parents

Ofsted Parent View gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think of your child’s school, including:   – how happy your child is at the school  – how the school manages bullying or challenging behaviour   If your child has special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), we will ask how well the school supports them.  The questionnaire can be completed at any time – you don’t have to wait until the school is being inspected.  We will use your responses to help us plan inspections. The information you provide can:   -inform discussions inspectors have with school leaders during an inspection   -help Ofsted decide when to inspect a school    In addition to this, we also publish the overall summary of the responses to Ofsted Parent View. This information is anonymised.

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